Quotes about anyone
page 19

Halldór Laxness photo
Carl Friedrich Gauss photo
Jean Meslier photo
Winston S. Churchill photo
Alastair Reynolds photo

“Is he dangerous?
“Anyone who lies for a living is dangerous.”

Source: Chasm City (2001), Chapter 29 (p. 485).

“Oh, wow, what a scene that place was - that heavenly drug down sexual perversion get their rocks off health spa. I was already so bombed I don't know how I got there. I got down to the pool, where all the freaks were. I met Paul America at the pool and I told him we were probably in danger if we stayed, but we were so blasted we forgot what was good for us and what wasn't, and the whole place turned into a giant orgy... every kind of sex freak, from homosexuals to nymphomaniacs... oh, everybody eating each other on the raft, and drinking, guzzling tequila and vodka and Scotch and bourbon and shooting up every other second... losing syringes down the pool drains, the needles of the mainline scene, blocking the water infiltration system with broken syringes. Oh, it was really some night just going on an incredible sexual tailspin. Gobble, gobble, gobble. Couldn't get enough of it. It was one of the wildest scenes I've ever been in or ever hope to be in. I should be ashamed of myself. I'm not, but I should be. Sex and speed, wow! Like, oh God. A twenty-four-hour climax that can go on for days. And there's no way to explain it unless you've been through it; there's no way to tell anyone who hasn't tasted it. I'd like to turn on the whole world for just a moment... just for a moment. I'm greedy; I'd like to keep most of it for myself and a few others, a few of my friends... to keep that superlative high, just on the cusp of each day... so that I'd radiate sunshine.”

Edie Sedgwick (1943–1971) Socialite, actress, model

Ciao! Manhattan tapes, recalling its pool spa orgy scene
Edie : American Girl (1982)

George Grosz photo

“Art today is an absolutely secondary matter. Anyone who is able to look further than the walls of his own studio can see this... All the same, art is a business that demands a very clear decision from anyone who undertakes it. It is not immaterial where you stand in this business... Are you on the side of the exploiters or on that of the masses, who want to wring the exploiters' necks?”

George Grosz (1893–1959) German artist

Grosz, Nov. 1920 in: 'Zu meinen neuen Bildern', Das Kunstblatt 5., no. 1 (1921): as cited in 'Portfolios', Alexander Dückers; in German Expressionist Prints and Drawings - Essays Vol 1.; published by Museum Associates, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California & Prestel-Verlag, Germany, 1986, pp. 91-92

Roger Bacon photo
Whittaker Chambers photo
Jack Kevorkian photo

“There is nothing anyone can do anyway. The public has no power. The government knows I'm not a criminal. The parole board knows I'm not a criminal. The judge knows I'm not a criminal.”

Jack Kevorkian (1928–2011) American pathologist, euthanasia activist

Quoted in "Between the dying and the dead: Dr. Jack Kevorkian's life and the battle to Legalize Euthanasia"‎ - Page 247 - by Neal Nicol, Harry Wylie - 2006
2000s, 2006

Chuck Klosterman photo

“We all have the potential to fall in love a thousand times in our lifetime. It's easy. The first girl I ever loved was someone I knew in sixth grade. Her name was Missy; we talked about horses. The last girl I love will be someone I haven't even met yet, probably. They all count. But there are certain people you love who do something else; they define how you classify what love is supposed to feel like. These are the most important people in your life, and you'll meet maybe four or five of these people over the span of 80 years. But there's still one more tier to all this; there is always one person who you love who becomes that definition. It usually happens retrospectively, but it always happens eventually. This is the person who unknowingly sets the template for what you will always love about other people, even if some of those lovable qualities are self-destructive and unreasonable. You will remember having conversations with this person that never actually happened. You will recall sexual trysts with this person that never technically occurred. This is because the individual who embodies your personal definition of love does not really exist. The person is real, and the feelings are real--but you create the context. And context is everything. The person who defines your understanding of love is not inherently different than anyone else, and they're often just the person you happen to meet the first time you really, really want to love someone. But that person still wins. They win, and you lose. Because for the rest of your life, they will control how you feel about everyone else.”

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story (2005)

Charles Péguy photo
Tulsidas photo

“Mine is no caste or cult, what care I for one or the other…
No one is of any use to me, nor am I of any use to anyone.
Don’t have a son to need, someone’s daughter to wed.
Tulsi is the slave of Rama, whoever may say whatever he likes.
Begged for food, slept in a mosque, have nothing to take and nothing
to give, call me a swindler or a saint, call me a Rajput or a Julaha.”

Tulsidas (1532–1623) Hindu poet-saint

A Muslim weaver is called a Julaha which Tusllidas preferred to be called, as he was brought up by a Muslim couple who were weavers who had picked him up and brought him up. Quoted in "A Garden of Deeds: Ramacharitmanas, a Message of Human Ethics", p. 106

“I think the important thing is maybe allow the fans to see what they want to see. We don't want to put anyone into a corner where it's like—So other people feel like they're not represented.”

Lauren Montgomery (1980) artist

20 July 2018 interview by The Geekery alongside Joaquim Dos at SDCC 2018 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ko0gP_hqY&t=1m15s when asked "How do Shiro and Adam identify in their sexuality? Are they bisexual, gay?"

Feng Shih-kuan photo

“Anyone (including retired ROC generals) would have stood up under that circumstance (during PRC national anthem) or it would be impolite.”

Feng Shih-kuan (1945) Taiwanese politician

Feng Shih-kuan (2016) cited in " Retired generals stayed silent: minister http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2016/11/18/484298/Retired-generals.htm" on The China Post, 18 November 2016

Aron Ra photo
Noam Chomsky photo

“We might add now that we do have an authoritative account of why the United States bombed Serbia in 1999. It comes from Strobe Talbott, now the director of the Brookings Institution, but in 1999 he was in charge of the State Department-Pentagon team that supervised the diplomacy in the affair. He wrote the introduction to a recent book by his Director of Communications, John Norris, which presents the position of the Clinton administration at the time of the bombing. Norris writes that "it was Yugoslavia's resistance to the broader trends of political and economic reform - not the plight of Kosovar Albanians - that best explains NATO's war". In brief, they were resisting absorption into the U. S. dominated international socioeconomic system. Talbott adds that thanks to John Norris, anyone interested in the war in Kosovo "will know … how events looked and felt at the time to those of us who were involved" in the war, actually directing it. This authoritative explanation will come as no surprise at all to students of international affairs who are more interested in fact than rhetoric. And it will also come as no surprise, to those familiar with intellectual life, that the attack continues to be hailed as a grand achievement of humanitarian intervention, despite massive Western documentation to the contrary, and now an explicit denial at the highest level; which will change nothing, it's not the way intellectual life works.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Talk at the Englert Theatre in Iowa, April 10, 2006 http://www.greenteaphd.com/greenteablog/?p=252
Quotes 2000s, 2006

Vincent Gallo photo
Bill Whittle photo
Steve Jobs photo
Wilhelm Liebknecht photo
Ray Comfort photo
Clive Staples Lewis photo
Daniel Levitin photo
Brian Viglione photo

“That is the spirit of the music: to not leave anyone out, to be inclusive.”

Brian Viglione (1979) American musician

March 26, 2006 - PunkTv Interview

Jim Brown photo

“He told me, 'Make sure when anyone tackles you, he remembers how much it hurts.' He lived by that philosophy and I always followed that advice.”

Jim Brown (1936) American former professional football player and current special advisor to the Cleveland Browns

John Mackey (football player) 1999. Cambridge Encyclopedia vol. 39 http://encyclopedia.stateuniversity.com/pages/11554/Jim-Brown.html
About

Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo

“You have a real life if and only if you do not compete with anyone in any of your pursuits.”

Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 39

Camille Pissarro photo
Elizabeth Cheney photo
Pendleton Ward photo
Kathleen Hanna photo
Fritz Leiber photo
Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar photo
Roger Moore photo

“I’ve been very fortunate and very lucky in life and I’d urge anyone to follow their hearts and find their true vocation. Life is so much more pleasant when you love going to work.”

Roger Moore (1927–2017) British actor

Sir Roger Q And A For December 2015 http://roger-moore.com/sir-roger-q-and-a-for-december-2015/ (2 December 2015)

S. I. Hayakawa photo
Kōki Hirota photo
Mikhail Bulgakov photo
Joseph McManners photo
Cassandra Clare photo
Primo Levi photo
Salman Khan photo
Leo Buscaglia photo
Norman Angell photo

“Masculine process has at its foundation externalization. The young boy is focused away from his inner and personal self and into achievement, performance, competition, success, emotional control (being "cool"), autonomy (not being dependent or needy), fearlessness, action, and an ethic that only values time spent in doing. Anything else is suspect and viewed as lazy, worthless, time-wasting, or meaningless.Externalization, or the process of being pushed outside of oneself, amplifies and eventually becomes disconnection. Personal relationships are then objectified and founded on the role another can play in his life. Relationships are based on doing and are therefore fairly readily interchangeable with anyone else who can do.Disconnection leads men to the experience of being loners, where it's "lonely at the top," and freedom, space, and "doing one's thing," are the rationalized values. Disconnection transforms a man into someone who has everything he wanted externally, but has nothing that is bonded or connected on a personal level. He is "out of touch," so he doesn't know why he's unhappy, and may conclude that the cause of his malaise is that he needs "more." He sets out to get it, but when he gets it he feels deader and more isolated than ever.The end stage of this journey of masculine process is personal oblivion, which can occur early in his life or may not appear full blown until he's an older man, depending on how extreme his externalized process is. At this point, personal connection becomes impossible. He doesn't know he rationalizes his personal emptiness with cynical philosophies and escapes painful awareness through non-relationships he can control by buying. In the end state of oblivion, he is beyond personal reach and can only relate in abstract, depersonalized, intellectualized ways. The only way he is "loved" is in return for providing or taking care of others.”

Herb Goldberg (1937–2019) American psychologist

The Personal Journey of Masculinity: From Externalization to Disconnection to Oblivion, pp. 10–11
What Men Still Don't Know About Women, Relationships, and Love (2007)

Fred Astaire photo

“What's all this talk about me being teamed with Ginger Rogers? I will not have it Leland--I did not go into pictures to be teamed with her or anyone else, and if that is the program in mind for me I will not stand for it. I don't mind making another picture with her but as for this teams idea, it's out.”

Fred Astaire (1899–1987) American dancer, singer, actor, choreographer and television presenter

Fred Astaire in a letter to his agent Leland Hayward dated February 9, 1934. He went on to make a further nine musical films with Rogers. (M).

Cristoforo Colombo photo
Stephen Fry photo
Linda McQuaig photo
Cassie Scerbo photo
Brian Keith photo
Muhammad photo

“It has been reported from Sulaiman b. Buraid through his father that when the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) appointed anyone as leader of an army or detachment he would especially exhort him to fear Allah and to be good to the Muslims who were with him. He would say: Fight in the name of Allah and in the way of Allah. Fight against those who disbelieve in Allah. Make a holy war, do not embezzle the spoils; do not break your pledge; and do not mutilate (the dead) bodies; do not kill the children. When you meet your enemies who are polytheists, invite them to three courses of action. If they respond to any one of these, you also accept it and withold yourself from doing them any harm. Invite them to (accept) Islam; if they respond to you, accept it from them and desist from fighting against them. Then invite them to migrate from their lands to the land of Muhajirs and inform them that, if they do so, they shall have all the privileges and obligations of the Muhajirs. If they refuse to migrate, tell them that they will have the status of Bedouin Muslims and will be subjected to the Commands of Allah like other Muslims, but they will not get any share from the spoils of war or Fai' except when they actually fight with the Muslims (against the disbelievers). If they refuse to accept Islam, demand from them the Jizya. If they agree to pay, accept it from them and hold off your hands. If they refuse to pay the tax, seek Allah's help and fight them. When you lay siege to a fort and the besieged appeal to you for protection in the name of Allah and His Prophet, do not accord to them the guarantee of Allah and His Prophet, but accord to them your own guarantee and the guarantee of your companions for it is a lesser sin that the security given by you or your companions be disregarded than that the security granted in the name of Allah and His Prophet be violated When you besiege a fort and the besieged want you to let them out in accordance with Allah's Command, do not let them come out in accordance with His Command, but do so at your (own) command, for you do not know whether or not you will be able to carry out Allah's behest with regard to them.”

Muhammad (570–632) Arabian religious leader and the founder of Islam

Sahih Muslim, Book 019, Number 4294
Sunni Hadith

Ray Bradbury photo

“No,” said the old man, deep under. “I don’t remember anyone winning anywhere any time. War’s never a winning thing, Charlie. You just lose all the time, and the one who loses last asks for terms. All I remember is a lot of losing and sadness and nothing good but the end of it. The end of it, Charles, that was a winning all to itself, having nothing to do with guns.”

Variant: “You remember winning, don’t you? A battle won, somewhere?”
“No,” said the old man, deep under. “I don’t remember anyone winning anywhere any time. War’s never a winning thing, Charlie. You just lose all the time, and the one who loses last asks for terms. All I remember is a lot of losing and sadness and nothing good but the end of it. The end of it, Charles, that was a winning all to itself, having nothing to do with guns.
Source: Dandelion Wine (1957), p. 85

“My advice to anyone who loves to read or write is to love words first. Look at fonts and at print carefully. Ignore what they mean and just marvel at what they look like.”

Mark Getty (1960) British businessman

City A.M.: "What I'm reading: Quickfire interview with Getty Images co-founder Mark Getty on his favourite books and the advice he'd give to aspiring writers" http://www.cityam.com/288100/im-reading-quickfire-interview-getty-images-co-founder-mark (25 June 2018)

Julian (emperor) photo

“Can anyone be proved innocent, if it be enough to have accused him?”

Julian (emperor) (331–363) Roman Emperor, philosopher and writer

Julian, at the trial of Numerius, governor of Gallia Narbonensis, who was accused of embezzlement. Numerius had successfully defended himself against the prosecutor Delphidius, who in his exasperation, declared whether anyone could be found guilty if they only denied the charges, which provoked Julian's response. As quoted in Book XVIII of Ammianus's History.
General sources

Michael Moore photo
George Galloway photo
Miguel de Unamuno photo
Baba Amte photo
Robert Charles Wilson photo
Evelyn Waugh photo
Robert A. Heinlein photo
Doris Lessing photo
Nicole Richie photo
Ray Bradbury photo
Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri photo

“Wahabbis think that holy sites are a manifestation of polytheism. They deem anyone who opposes them to be polytheist. They believe Shias, Sunnis, and the Islamic world are polytheist.”

Mohammad-Ali Taskhiri (1948) Iranian ayatollah

Iran says Saudis can curb divisive religious statements http://www.mehrnews.com/en/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=522400, Mehr News Agency, 22 July 2007.

Pearl S.  Buck photo
Prito Reza photo
Alastair Reynolds photo
Tanith Lee photo
Confucius photo

“Be loyal and trustworthy. Do not befriend anyone who is lower than yourself in this regard. When making a mistake, do not be afraid to correct it.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

Source: The Analects, Chapter I

Frank Wilczek photo

“An ordinary mistake is one that leads to a dead end, while a profound mistake is one that leads to progress. Anyone can make an ordinary mistake, but it takes a genius to make a profound mistake.”

Frank Wilczek (1951) physicist

Source: The Lightness of Being – Mass, Ether and the Unification of Forces (2008), Ch. 1, p. 12.

Victor Davis Hanson photo
Lyndon B. Johnson photo

“Making a speech on economics is a lot like pissing down your leg. It seems hot to you, but it never does to anyone else.”

Lyndon B. Johnson (1908–1973) American politician, 36th president of the United States (in office from 1963 to 1969)

Private comment, as quoted in Name-Dropping (1999) by John Kenneth Galbraith, p. 149.

Tam Dalyell photo
Pete Doherty photo
Elizabeth Bishop photo
Fyodor Dostoyevsky photo
Aron Ra photo

“Lizards don't look anything like dinosaurs. Why doesn't anyone understand this?… Ignore what you've seen in the cheesy old movies made by those who don't know anything; there's not even one dinosaur that looks anything like a lizard. It's so obvious it bothers me that no one can see this.”

Aron Ra (1962) Aron Ra is an atheist activist and the host of the Ra-Men Podcast

Youtube, Other, Geerup's Terrible Lizard Classification https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhZeowON8l8 (July 28, 2009)

Roger Manganelli photo
Kodo Sawaki photo

“Religion means living your own life, completely fresh and new, without being taken in by anyone.”

Kodo Sawaki (1880–1965) Japanese zen Buddhist monk

Source: Zen ni kike (To you) (Tokyo: Daihorinkaku, 1987)

Antoine Augustin Cournot photo

“Anyone who understands algebraic notation, reads at a glance in an equation results reached arithmetically only with great labour and pains.”

Source: Researches into the Mathematical Principles of the Theory of Wealth, 1897, p. 4; Cited in: Moritz (1914, 197): About mathematics as language

Nile Kinnick photo
Georgia O'Keeffe photo
Samuel T. Cohen photo